Kabir Bedi: The actor who became a European heartthrob, shocked India with his ‘open relationship’, had his female fans scream ‘We want your babies’

 

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Here, as a reporter, a 20-year-old Kabir did the impossible. He became the only reporter to interview the iconic band Beatles. However, his achievement was short-lived after someone recorded another interview in the same cassette due to budget constraints in the government organisation. This incident angered Kabir, who decided to quit his job and move to Mumbai. With just Rs 700 in his pocket and a dream to become a filmmaker, Kabir headed to the city of dreams.

His next job was with an ad agency, where he worked as an ad filmmaker. In the first five-years of his life in Bombay, he worked in two different ad agencies as their film chief. It was during this time, he also met his first wife Protima Gauri.

In an interview with Digital Commentary, Kabir said, “When I was working in the ad agency, I had become a senior executive quite early. The perks of this was that we were given a key to the bathroom. One day, I came to work and wanted to use the washroom, but didn’t have the keys, so I entered my colleague Suresh Malik’s cabin, and I asked him for the keys… there was a woman with him there and he introduced me to her, and when he did, I was struck by her. She was so beautiful and I was very attracted to her. But the problem was that she was a model. And I had decided as a filmmaker that I would never date a model because it will give a wrong impression. I said, ‘Nice to meet you’, and left. I knew this is not going to go anywhere, and I also had a girlfriend in Delhi at that time.”

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But destiny had other plans and the two eventually married. “Protima liked me too and she was everywhere I went, romance began between us and we ended up getting married.”

Along with his love life, his career too changed when his boss from the ad agency cast him in a Girish Karnad’s 1966 play Tughlaq. The play became a massive hit and this opened doors for Kabir to enter Bollywood with many producers reaching out to him with offers. Kabir, who wanted to become a filmmaker, saw acting as an opportunity to enter the industry. He featured in a couple of films, but it was Kuchhe Dhaage (1973), starring Vinod Khanna that brought him fame. This brought more offers. Five years into Bollywood, a team from Italy visited India as part of their Asian tour and hunt to find the finest actor who can play the main lead in the television series, Sandokan.

Among the many actors, Kabir too was selected for an audition. He was called to Rome but at his own expenses. There, an already established actor in India, Kabir gave a full-fledged audition that included swimming, fencing, horse riding, drama scenes, love scenes and makeup trial. To his luck, he bagged the role which brought him fame. So much that when he once travelled to Spain to attend a book launch event, his female fans screamed at him: ‘I want to have your babies’, which ultimately became a viral headline.

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Recalling the incident, Kabir told Bollywood Bubble, “I was in Spain. I had gone to attend a book launch event. It was on the top floor. Somehow I managed to get through the crowd and reach. But, as soon as I reached there, the manager came to me and said, ‘You will have to leave immediately.’ I was shocked. When he explained me the situation and massive crowd, I left the space. While I was trying to exit the venue… the female fans outside the venue started to scream: ‘I want to have your baby’ and this became a headline.”

To escape the crowd, like a scene from a dramatic film, Kabir climbed the roofs of the vehicles parked outside the venue and used them to cross the road.

In the same interview, he said, “I was then summoned by the police for damaging about 36 vehicles. However, the store that had invited me for the book launch took the blame on them for not being able to manage the crowd and paid for the damages.”

The success of Sandokan opened doors of Hollywood for Kabir Bedi. The actor credits his childhood friends and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his brother Sanjay Gandhi for helping him learn horse riding that helped him bag such roles. Among many small roles, he played the memorable Gobinda in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy.

Speaking to Digital Commentary, Kabir said, “Makers of James Bond were smart. I was very popular in Asia, Italy and Spain by then… they wanted to make their reach to these regions and they cast me in their film.”

Actress Praveen Babi and Kabir Bedi. (Photo: Express archive photo)

This was also the time when Kabir’s personal life was going through a shift. The actor told Digital Commentary, “At that time Protima and I wanted to stay together for the kids, but our intentions was to have affairs, so we decided to make it an open marriage. Eventually, that too didn’t work for us and divorced each other. We remained friends all our life.”

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At this time, Kabir was dating the Bollywood diva Parveen Babi. In his book, “Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Life of an Actor”, the actor wrote, “Parveen was the balm for my wounded soul after I left my open marriage.”

 

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Speaking about her, Kabir told Digital Commentary, “Parveen was very intelligent, smart, sensitive, and India’s biggest actress. Us dating each other became a big deal with many blaming her for breaking my marriage. But, there has been no truth to it. My marriage was already broken.”

They dated for a couple of years, often attending events together. She accompanied him to his international trips. Kabir too would openly express his love for the actress but she was struggling with mental illness.

In the same interview, Kabir said, “One of the reasons why our relationship ended is that when we went to London after Italy, I could see her situation worsening. I told her to take treatment and she was against it. We fought over this. She left me because of this. She had a paranoid mind and was scared that if the doctor will know about her condition, he will spread it in the industry, which will destroy her career. She left me, I didn’t. But, media blamed me. They made headlines that due to my rejection she faced mental illness. Truth is she had mental illness even before she met me.”

 

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And just like that their years of relationship came to an end. Kabir married British-born fashion designer Susan Humphreys. With her, he had his third child, a son Adam, while he shared a daughter Pooja and son Siddharth with his first wife. This too ended in divorce after a decade.

Kabir fell in love for a third time and married Nikki Bedi. In an interview with Lehren Retro, the actor told: “I have been married twice. Both ended but I always owned my responsibilities and maintain good relationship with my former partners. Currently, I am with Nikki and this is going to be my last relationship.” But this marriage too resulted in divorce. Unlike his previous relations, this one was on a mutual note.

He told Bollywood Bubble, “Nikki and I, we tried to keep our relationship, but her career was in London and mine in India, we tried long distance for three years, but it didn’t work out for us. Like any sensible adult, we decided to part ways. So not always you end relationship on a bad note, they are sometimes mutual.”

Rekha and Kabir Bedi in Khoonbhari Maang. (Photo: IMDb)

While there were a set of female fans outside India who wanted to have his babies, in India, women were quite afraid of him. After all, for them, he was the man who turned Rekha into crocodile food in Khoon Bhari Maang (1988). He told Bollywood Bubble, “After the film’s release, there was an entire generation of woman who feared me. Many of them walked up to me and told me: ‘Hum apse bahaut darte the’.”

Khoon Bhari Maang was more like a Bollywood comeback film for the actor, who was working in Hollywood.

“I received a call from Rakesh Roshan, who said I have a unique lead role for you but its villainous and no hero is agreeing to take up the role here in India. I was like, ‘Who is the heroine?’, he said, ‘Rekha!’, quickly I replied, ‘Done'”, he told Bollywood Bubble.

 

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In 2016, he married British-born Parveen Dusanj; his fourth wedding took place just a day before his 70th birthday.

While Kabir had a tumultuous love life, he also faced setbacks when he lost his son Siddharth. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Kabir’s son died by suicide at the age of 26.

In his autobiography, Kabir wrote, “I suffered heavy losses due to bad investments. This happened at a time when my son was suffering from schizophrenia, there is a chapter in my book too which details how I dealt with it and how people should deal with it. I tried to prevent him from suicide. When the tragedy did happen, and I couldn’t save him, I suffered immense guilt.”

Speaking with Digital Commentary, Kabir said, “Its not just the patient that suffers but also the family. We couldn’t win the battle and I consider this as my life’s biggest tragedy.”

Kabir, who turns 79 today, looks forward to work in more plays, movies, languages and nations. He believes, “There is a lot more to climb and no age to retire.”